Recently, consumer foamable cleansers have appeared on the market. Foamable cleansers are typically kept in a dispensing container that mixes the cleansing composition with air when dispensed immediately forming a foam or lather. These types of products have been used extensively in the medical field by doctors and other medical personnel. Compositions dispensed as foams have been regarded as desirable in part because of an association of foam with cleaning ability.
One problem that has been experienced in formulating foamable compositions, however, is the ability to incorporate certain useful chemicals into the compositions. For example, many useful chemicals are anhydrous and typically act as defoaming agents or foam depressants making their incorporation into foamable compositions somewhat problematic. For example, many cleaning solvents, such as solvents used to remove paint and/or grease, and many skin care agents, such as warming agents, reduce the surface tension of water and other liquids below that needed to maintain the integrity of the lamellae of a foam bubble. Such anhydrous ingredients also display surfactant molecules at the air/water interface disrupting the stability of any foam being formed and causing collapse. In addition, some of the above ingredients lose their effectiveness when combined with water, which has traditionally been used as a foam carrier in foamable compositions due to its polar nature.
In view of the above, a need currently exists for foamable compositions capable of containing difficult to foam ingredients, such as cleaning solvents and skin care agents. In addition, a need exists for a foamable composition that can produce a high quality foam while containing substantially no water.